Topic 10: James

And here are a couple of photos of James when he received his bobcat award. What a cool kid. We sure love him.

Topic 9: Anna

Here are some pictures of Anna that I've been meaning to post. These were pre-haircut pictures, so you know I've held on to these for a while.

Topic 8: Alden

I've been meaning to post a couple of pictures of Alden that I took a couple of weeks ago, but I just haven't gotten around to it. These are some of the cutest faces he's pulled for the camera.

Topic 7: Stranger Than Fiction

Tonight we watched "Stranger Than Fiction." If you haven't seen the movie, go to the library and borrow it. It's a total hoot. I won't give away the story, but I can tell you that I can relate to the main character, Harold Crick, on levels that most other people can't.

One line in particular: One character asks Harold, "What's your favorite word?" His response, "Integer." So true.

Topic 6: My Country ’Tis of Thee

Today one of our speakers in church was asked to talk about patriots and the founding fathers. The things that I heard (I was in the foyer with Alden for a good portion of the meeting) were, while not particularly eloquent, very heartfelt. I feel badly that I don't even know who the speaker was to give him credit for his thoughts.

He talked about true patriotism being a quiet, humble, feeling of respect and love for one's country; he noted that it is not boastful or superior or proud. It isn't chest beating jingoism (my words, not his), but it is something that every citizen can and probably ought to feel.

Our speaker then discussed some of the important documents in our nations history, like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I don't know about other religions, but in our's, we believe that these documents, especially the Constitution, were inspired by God. (With regards to the various compromises [eg, Three-fifths Compromise], we believe that God gives men agency, or the power to choose, and he knew that it couldn't have been ratified without them. That's my take on it anyway. Comments are open for thoughtful discussion.)

A few years ago, I read a book entitled "Miracle at Philidelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention" at the behest of one of my professors. The author asserts that it was nothing short of a miracle that the different states were able to draft such a momentous document, convince the delegates to throw out the less than perfect Articles of Confederation, and get the Constitution ratified by the states. As I read the account, as taken from notes of persons attending the convention, I found that I had to agree. There were some vehement battles, and some tough things that those delegates had to do to get everything ready and working. It was, indeed, a miracle.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a modern-day Apostle and former attorney and Utah Supreme Court Justice, wrote a stirring article with his thoughts on the Constitution. I recommend that you read it.

We live in a marvelous country. It was founded on principles of righteousness, by far-sighted and strong individuals. Our Constitution continues to serve as a model for the rest of the world, and I hope it will continue to do so.

Our fathers’ God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light.
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King!

Topic 5: Gone Fishing

We've decided to go fishing today. I look forward to working with Anna so that she can catch her first fish by herself. We'll probably be fishing in the Green River.

Other than that, I don't have much to report.

Perhaps tomorrow I can share some good news from the trip.

---

Small update: We didn't catch anything, but we had a lot of fun trying.

Topic 4: Money

So, let's talk about money. I never understood money while I was growing up. It was made to be spent, and I knew how to spend. I remember one summer when I worked at least 40 hours every week, went fishing every saturday, ate out frequently, and at the end of the summer, I didn't have a penny to my name. So, I had to keep working during the school year so I could buy the stuff that I wanted—music, clothes, school stuff, dates, and so forth. I just didn't understand the way it flowed. I was just trying to have some fun, but as soon as the money dried up, so did the fun.

And it isn't as if the act of getting older made me any smarter. Julie and I were blessed with an opportunity after we were married to live in an apartment for $200 a month. Good luck finding anything like that. But did we save? Were we wise? Probably not. I'm not sure we saved anything significant during that time. We did dumb things like refinance a car to pay for repairs that cost more than the car was actually worth.

Part of the reason I decided to study accounting and finance is so that I could learn more about how to manage my own money. But the one person who taught me more about money than anybody else was Jesus. Five years of accounting and finance, an advanced degree, a CPA license, and all I really needed to know, I found in the scriptures. Here's one example of a principle that I learned about:

Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).

Mammon can be defined as riches, avarice and worldly gain. We cannot serve God and riches. What does this mean? It means that if you are a servant of money, you can't fully serve God. Who are the servants of mammon? They are the people who haven't yet learned to master their money. You will either be master of money, or you will be a slave to it. If you are a slave to your money (or your boat, or your house, or your snowmachines, or whatever), you can't always fully serve God.

I can't tell you how many times I met a person who couldn't find time to attend church, or participate in a service project, or play with his kids because he "had to go to work." And, more often than not, this same person was paying several hundred dollars a month to the satellite/cable company, who was driving a leased car, who wore the latest fashions... you get the picture. Who was in charge of that persons life? Right. Mammon. It's a choice you make—you cannot serve God and mammon.

On the other hand, I know several persons who are not what most persons consider fiscally successful: they don't drive the latest car, they don't wear the coolest jeans, they don't live in the nicest house, but they seem to have time to help their neighbors, give generously to charity, share what they have, and are content with the hand that's been dealt them. They have enough.

The term "enough" was a key in my understanding of money. For most of my life, I wanted "more" (and I admit, there are still times when I find myself wanting "more"), but when your goal is "more" you can never have "enough." It's such a powerful concept to find the point where you have "enough."

When you have enough, you can create that cushion so that when the company that convinced you to move into the wilderness with their flashy stock options and promises of bonuses fires you, you can just roll with the punches. Maybe you'll take the next two weeks to appreciate your new baby, and spend time with your family, and get set for the job hunt that's coming. That's what I did.

When you have enough, you can put something away for a rainy day, or sock it away in your kid's mission fund. Or, you can do things like send some extra cash to your friends when the Spirit prompts you that they're having trouble. Or drop off some diapers and a couple gallons of milk for the people who are having troubles. That's what other people did for us.

So, dear reader… which will you choose? Will you be a slave to money and mammon? Or will you choose to be a master of money and a servant of God? I hope you'll choose the latter.

Topic 3: It’s finally summer in Lyman

July 16th will go down in my personal record books as the latest start of summer that I can remember. (Except of course for Chile, where they don’t start summer until Christmas time, but that’s another topic for another day.)

I'm not complaining, though. Every day has been in the oh&endash;so&endash;pleasant 70s and 80s for the past couple of weeks, and it’s felt just like spring. Of course, my allergies didn’t appear until mid&endash;June, so I knew that summer would be late. But it looks like it’s finally upon us.

Things that help you know for sure that the summer in Wyoming is here:

1. The kids have been sleeping outside on their new trampoline for the past couple of nights.
2. We all had a craving for grilled hamburgers.
3. I grilled hamburgers.
4. The sun no longer sets.
5. The Utah Navy stops in Mountain View to get gas on their way to Flaming Gorge.
6. The rest of the world has been complaining about the heat for at least 60 days.

That's all for tonight. Hope you have a lovely evening.

Topic 2: Health Care in America

Nothing like starting our challenge with a little controversy, is there?

One of the Wyoming senators is Dr. John Barasso, who, with his fellow senator and physician, Dr. Tom Coburn, have new webcast to discuss health care in America. As a citizen of Wyoming, and a dutiful patriot, I have sent my senators letters regarding topics about which I care, and as a result I ended up on Senator Barraso’s email list. (A quick aside: I wrote letters to the congressional delegation from Utah occasionally while we lived there, and never heard from them again. Oh well.)

Anyway, Senator Barasso emailed and asked the citizens of Wyoming to pose questions about health care in the US that they could feature on their show. This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart (pun intended), and so I responded with this question:

Could you please address in your broadcast how the Congress could create a viable health care solution that would permit the market, rather than the government, to cover the uninsured and/or reign in health care costs, without additional government spending?

What's a country to do? Everything that I have heard says that the uninsured cost the taxpayer a significant amount of money. On the other hand, our government already spends more than they bring in.

So, dear reader, does such a solution exist? If so, what is it? If not, why not? Thoughtful answers graciously accepted in the comments, or, if you have relevant links to share, please post them.

P.S. I got an email from the senators this afternoon that my question would be featured on an upcoming broadcast.

Topic 1: Something I've accomplished in the last six months

I’m pleased to say that for the past six months since we moved to Lyman, I’ve either walked or ridden my back to and from work on all but a handful of days. I’ve certainly seen some benefits: my clothes are starting to fit a bit looser than they used to.

I'd probably lose a bit more weight it I was traveling more than four or five blocks...

Accepting the challenge

Even though Aaron only said he was thinking about issuing a challenge, I’ve decided to accept. Why not?

So, I’ll try and post something on some topic during the next 30 days. We’ll see what happens.

Writer’s block?

It seems to me that every time I’ve sat down at the computer with a few minutes to write something for the blog, that I just don’t have anything to say. Like today.

Woke up… went to church/work… came home… unpacked some boxes or cleaned up my room or helped fold laundry… nothing exciting or different or special. I guess I’m just having a few of those easy going, mellow weeks. Sorry I don’t have anything exciting to report.

Anybody else ever feel that way?

It just occurred to me that I’ve probably been too busy working on the mundane, that I haven’t had time to look for the silly or amazing. Hmmm...

Two guys are floating in a hot air baloon...

... somwhere over San Francisco, when the fog comes in.

One turns to the other and asks, "How are we going to get out of this predicament?"

The other responds, "We'll just hang out for a while, and when the fog lifts, we'll find someone who can tell us where we're at."

Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, the fog lifts, and they spot someone on the ground. They float down and one of them shouts to the man on the ground, "Hey! Buddy! Where are we?"

The guy on the ground shouts back, "You're in a hot-air balloon!"

Disgustedly, one of the guys says to the other, "He must be an accountant."

His friend looks bewildered and says, "Why's that?" to which the first responds, "Well, the information was accurate and correct, but it wasn't worth crap."

Anna’s New Profession

Last Saturday, Anna decided what she wanted to be when she grew up. I was at the grocery store when she decided that, so part of this story is hearsay, and you’ll have to ask Julie about its validity.

She elected to become a hairdresser, and Julie gave her blessing. She cut the hair of one of her stuffed animals, and then Alden’s hair (with Julie’s help), and then as an act of true devotion to the art, she decided to cut her own hair. Julie says that she warned her that she might end up with a boy haircut, but that Anna was OK with that, and went in the bathroom with a pair of scissors and a comb, and started hacking.

When I got home from the store, Anna was locked in the bathroom, and wouldn’t let anybody look at her. And with good reason, I suppose. She eventually let me in after I promised not to laugh, and that was one of the hardest promises I’ve ever had to keep. I’ve never seen anybody whose hair was cut by a lawnmower, but I can only imagine that a lawnmower would have done a better job.

I offered to help her fix her hair, and she accepted, and since I had only slightly more training than Anna, we spent the next 45 minutes trimming and fixing and layering. It was definitely not the best haircut ever, but we did manage to disguise a lot of the damage; Anna even said that she liked it when we were done.

---

As Julie and I talked about that experience last week, we both admitted our surprise that it took her a little more than six years to finally cut her own hair. Several of our friends have told us stories about their little girls getting hold of the scissors at age three or four, and cutting off a pigtail, or some other strange thing. (Maybe that was Julie and her sisters….) In a way, I’m glad she decided to wait, because now she’ll be able to remember the experience; if she had done this when she was two, she’d only have the pictures.

Kids and Cleanliness

Does the state of one’s home really dictate whether kids should play together? Do moms truly only let their kids play with kids whose houses are clean and pristine?

Here’s some background: While we were driving home from church, James asked if he could invite a friend over to play today. I was getting ready to respond that, yes, he could, when Julie said that, no, he could not. I asked he why that was, and she said something about “girlie reasons,” and that I wouldn’t understand. Hmm…

When we got home, the kids went inside, and I tried (stupidly or ignorantly or both) to understand a little bit about what was going on. Julie explained to me that because our house is in a state of disarray, that a friend might be able to come and play today, but that he wouldn’t be permitted to come back if the mom heard about how “dirty” and “icky” the house was. She cited to me an example of a girl who lived in the same neighborhood as a niece who came to play twice, but never returned, supposedly because the house was chaotic.

I don’t understand. I used to play with friends whose houses were at least 20 times messier and 50 times smellier than our house is right now, and some of them were my best friends. I’m certain that my mom knew how these people lived, because they were all fairly good friends.

So, dear readers, please offer your advice to this Clark in Wyoming. Have you, either as a mother or a kid or something in between, ever stopped playing with a friend or avoided having your friend go over to a friend’s house because it was dirty? Comments are open.

Home buying

Just a little update from the Clarks in Wyoming. We're buying a home.

We've told some of you about it, but it's pretty much official. Unless there is some really crazy issue, we'll be getting a home here in Lyman. We loved our year-and-a-half in Big Piney, and we miss everyone terribly, but it's become pretty apparent that we're not going back there anytime soon.

You can look at the listing to see some pictures.

I'm mostly excited to say that we'll be cutting our monthly housing payment by nearly 30%. That's a relief.

The things some kids will do to impress the ladies

     

Bald is beautiful, right?

Simple Truths

• You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
• You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
• You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
• You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
• You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
• You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
• You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
• You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
• You cannot build character and courage by destroying men’s initiative and independence.
• And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

Author: William J. H. Boetcker. Via they.mislead.us.

Small-town Wyoming hits the big time

Watch CBS Videos Online

This is pretty cool. The lady who runs this place, Cheryl, used to cater for EnerCrest, so I can vouch for her cooking. Her sister, Tanya (who is also featured in the video), was EnerCrest’s accounts receivable specialist, and our next door neighbor in Marbleton. I’m looking forward to visiting.

P.S. There is a 32 second ad before the video starts.

How cool is this?

The family has gone to SLC for spring break, and I have to work. So, I decided to clean up the 23 gigs of photos on the hard drive, and start deciding which were really worth keeping. I think this is definitely a keeper.

From left to right: Grandpa, Carl Clark; Me, Aaron Clark; Great-grandpa, Wilford Clark; Dad, Jed Clark.

We took a four generation picture like this with James, me, Dad, and Grandpa when James was about this age, but I haven’t seen it for quite a while. If you have any knowledge of its whereabouts, please let me know.

Ft. Bridger, Wyoming

We went down to Ft. Bridger today for an Easter Egg Hunt. It didn't go so well. We missed the opening horn by about two minutes, and as a result, we didn't end up with any eggs. Bummer.

We got over that pretty quickly, though, and decided to go for a walk around the old Fort. It's a fascinating place, with a lot of history. It's name comes from the Jim Bridger, a trapper and trader who helped explore much of the west, and, if memory serves, helped discover South Pass. That discovery helped enable the significant migration of thousands of persons throughout the west. Other than that, I don't know much about the Fort. Sorry.

I ended up shooting a few pictures, and I thought this one was kind of interesting:

 

It's not much to look at on its own, but after a little post processing, I thought it was kind of fun.

 

Weather today

We may be down later than planned.

AC

=======================
Sent from my mobile phone.

Ummm... No I'm not

Missing, that is. I’m right here where I’ve always been, readily accessible by both phone and email. It Wyoming! Not outer mongolia!

James’s Baptism

 

Some of you probably haven’t seen this yet.

Anna, Age 6

 

It’s so hard for me to believe that she’s actually six years old.

Some Photos for you

That’s his name...

 

We went to look at houses yesterday to get ideas for what we’d like to do in our next house. One of the houses had a pretty good name, wouldn’t you agree?

25 Random Things

As I feel like the absolutely last person to post something along these lines, here we go:

1. I like music. A lot. I really learned to appreciate good music while I was on my mission, and there wasn’t any. All we heard, all day, especially during the summer was Cumbia. To which I say, “Meh.”
2. I don’t play much music anymore. I used to could plunk out some tunes on the piano when I was a practicer, but I haven’t practiced regularly for years.
3. My brother and I do not agree on how he broke his leg. He thinks it was on purpose. I know it was an accident. Methinks we’ll have to wait to get the real story in Heaven.
4. You know those neat little playlists that people have on their blogs? I really can’t stand them. When I look at blogs, it’s usually after the kids go to sleep, and they always come on really loud.
5. I speak Spanish, but not as well I did 10 years ago.
6. I want to learn to speak Italian, Portuguese, and French.
7. One of my favorite emails is the Word of the Day from Merriam-Webster. I get one every day. The coolest word I’ve learned this week is “slumgullion.”
8. I think I inherited an interest in language from my father, who speaks enough foreign languages that when he was a bus driver, the kids thought he was ex-CIA.
9. I really love to cook, but only if the knives are sharp, and the ingredients are quality. Dull knives and bad ingredients are the worst.
10. I also really love to bake. Cookies and pies are my favorite, but I enjoy making bread, too.
11. We lived with my in-laws for over a year while we were saving for a house.
12. Even though I grew up in Utah, I now consider myself a Wyomingite.
13. I may have read every book that John Steinbeck wrote. My favorite is East of Eden.
14. I have had open heart surgery twice, and anticipate another one sometime in the next 10-15 years.
15. One of the hobbies I list on my résumé is computer programming.
16. Apart from my wife and kids, I consider my brother and sister my best friends.
17. I passed all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination on my first try, a feat which testifies that there is indeed a Benevolent God, because I couldn’t have done it without Him.
18. My favorite food is spaghetti.
19. My least favorite food is eggs. I like scrambled eggs and things that have eggs in them, but I don’t care for fried, over-easy, hard boiled, poached, or any other variation of cooked eggs alone.
20. I have three kids, who I adore.
21. I have three kids, who drive me crazy sometimes, too.
22. My siblings and I all have a father-in-law named David.
23. I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I don’t subscribe to the ideals or beliefs of either party. I do, however, usually vote based on economic principles, and for the most part, that means I side with Republicans.
24. We don’t have television in our home, and we don’t miss it. We have a television, and we watch videos, but we don’t have cable or satellite or over the air signals.
25. Even though I made it into the school spelling bee twice in a row when I was in elementary school, both years I messed up on my first word because I went too fast. Bummer.

Even when he’s crying, we still think he’s cute

 

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Aaron has been walking to work since we moved to Lyman, we only live about 4 blocks away but the weather has been really cold and windy, not Big Piney cold, but definitely cold! I’ve been proud of him, Andrew’s heart attack, (Andrew is Aaron’s younger brother,) has been a real wake up call that Aaron is taking seriously. Well on Tuesday Redi gave Aaron a company truck to drive, a big, new, four door, massive truck, needles to say Aaron hasn’t walked to work since. I asked Aaron why an accountant needs a work truck, he’s not really sure but he thinks they felt bad that he was walking to work in the cold. Aaron is in Elko, Nevada today and tomorrow, last week he was in Rifle, Colorado. Last night James cut his hand with a pocket knife, no stitches were needed thank goodness, and today Alden got locked into the car. A big thank you to the Lyman Police force! If it’s not one thing it’s another! Cousin Shelby is up visiting this week helping me get ready for the baptism/blessing on Saturday and James has his first pack meeting tonight. Here are a few pictures. The quilt is one that the Bear group made for their leader who just had a baby boy. On it they wrote advice on raising a boy. . . “Don’t let him eat his nails.” “Make sure he does his home work.” “Don’t let him play video games.” “Don’t let him puke.” I thought it was a cleaver idea. I should ask James what advice he would give on how to raise a boy. As I was tucking the kids into bed Anna gave some advice on a safety hazard, (one of the requirements that we have been working on for James’s Wolf badge.) She said, “Mom, I found another safety hazard, locking babies in a car!”

Aaron lost his job at Enercrest just before Thanksgiving. We looked into staying in Big Piney, but Big Piney is such a small area there just wasn’t any thing available for a business CPA. Just before Christmas Aaron accepted a job in Lyman, WY, (Lyman is two hours south of Big Piney.) Aaron now works for Redi Services as a Project Specialist Accountant. Everything has just fallen into place, we’ve found a place to rent in Lyman and we were able to rent out our home in Big Piney. We moved over Christmas break. Moving was a bit crazy, the Holidays and snow didn't help much. On Tuesday, Dec. 30th, I knew that Aaron and I wouldn't be able to get everything done, we needed help! I made one call Tuesday morning to Mary, the Laurel class President, and asked her if she could invite any of the Young Women who weren't busy to come and help at 11:00 a.m. When we arrived in Big Piney there were 8 people there to help! We finished in three hours and Wanda filled her horse trailer and brought the rest of our stuff to Lyman! I can’t forget to thank the people who were going to help us Friday after Christmas but we got snowed out. And then all the people who changed their plans and came up on Saturday to help load the U-haul and move all of the heavy items. It is strange how things work, I don't know why we were supposed to move to Big Piney for 18 months, but I do not regret that we did. We meet so many wonderful people that it was worth it! Thank you to our family and friends for babysitting, for your food, your strong backs, your horse trailers, your time, your prayers, your love and friendship. It has been amazing to see how God works thru others to bless our lives! James will be baptized at 11 a.m. on January 31st. Alden will be blessed following the baptismal service. You are all invited! Please RSVP so that we know how much food to make. Our new phone number is (307)747-1808. Our e-mail is theclarkfam@gmail.com. Love, The Clarks

The Christmas Card

I tried to keep it simple this year.

We love you all.

Aaron, Julie, James, Anna, and Alden

The Clarks are Still in Wyoming

Most of you know that I (Aaron) was fired from my job a couple of days before Thanksgiving. I won’t go into any depth other than to say, I’m glad I’m gone. When the regular joke around the office is that it’s Friday, and the Management Gods need a sacrifice (meaning someone needs to be fired to appease the CEO), nobody functions to the best of their abilities. They’re all just trying to keep their head down and not be noticed, because he who gets noticed gets the axe. Anyway... I guess my head wasn’t down far enough or something.

So, the past three weeks have been some of the most antagonizing weeks of my life. Questions about whether I should go into business for myself, or move back to Utah, try to find a job in Big Piney, find a job elsewhere in Wyoming, and what to do with our family have been plaguing us this whole time. And it was hard to know what to do. Some of you have been in the same situation, and you know how hard it is. At first, I thought I needed to do my own thing, and work with some friends to get an accounting/technology practice going. But when I talked to my friends and neighbors and the local business people around here, they all said I was out of their league. They just needed someone with basic AR/AP skills, and who could keep their books. I’ve recommended some people I know, but there hasn’t been too much for a guy like me. Except for one guy.

Jay Anderson used to be a bishop here in Big Piney, and lived here with his family for 12ish years before he and a friend bought a little company in Lyman, WY. When Julie and I first came here, we met him, and he was interested in having me come to work for him if things didn’t work out with EnerCrest. Well, things obviously didn’t work out with EnerCrest, and so we visited, and he offered me a job with his company. After considerable prayer and fasting, we determined that his offer would be best for our family, and so we’re moving.

We’re very, very, very sad to leave Big Piney. Julie and the kids and I had a good cry yesterday when we broke the news to them. At the same time, we are excited to try something new that we hope will last for a bit longer than 18 months. We’re also excited to be a little closer to the temple and our families. That will be nice.

Christmas Questionnaire

We were tagged. These are Aaron’s answers.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper.
2. Real tree or artificial? I prefer real, but this year, perhaps none.
3. When do you put up the tree? Whenever.
4. When do you take the tree down? When it’s brown and stinky.
5. Do you like eggnog? Heck yes I do.
6. Favorite gift received as a kid? Nintendo.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Human beings.
8. Easiest person to buy for? Me.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Depends on my mood. This year, email. Next year, who knows.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever recieved? There was a mix-up, and my Grandma Swensen put my cousin Ann’s gift in a box marked Aaron. It was pretty and pink, and I was probably 5 or 6. I’ve never really forgiven her.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? “A Christmas Story.” I mean, come on. Are there really any other Christmas Movies worth watching?
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Sometimes as early as August.
14. Have you ever recycled Christmas Paper? Probably so.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cashews
16. Lights on the tree? Not yet. When it was just Julie and I, we had white lights, but they’ve disappeared, and I haven’t gotten around to getting more.
17. Favorite Christmas Song? “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Silent Night”
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This year: travel; next year: TBD.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Darn skippy. I know all 10 of them.
20. Angel on the tree or a star? I prefer a star.
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas? Christmas.
22. What do you hate about this time of year? Commercialism.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Antique.
24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Turkey. Mmmm.... Turkey.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A jorb.
26. Who is tagged? Dad and Julie.

My Brain has Movies

Jen talked about Breanne's brain having channels on her blog. A very interesting phenomenon, I must admit. Sometimes I'd like to change the channel in my brain.

My brain has entire movies. Andrew, Dad and I may be afflicted/blessed with the same condition, but if the mood strikes me, I can replay entire movies in my head. Julie laughs at me because sometimes I see a funny scene in my head ("Give him a seda-give!"), and I'll laugh out loud because I can see it and hear it in my mind. (I actually just laughed out loud because I replayed that scene from Young Frankenstein) I know that Julie says that sometimes Andrew and I don't talk about anything except for quote movies that we like.

It's a blessing, because sometimes I can just tune out the world, and watch a fun movie. It's a curse, because sometimes I'll do without realizing it when I'm in an important meeting, and then I'll miss a question or something that gets directed to me.

Is it just me, or do others out there share my affliction/blessing?

PS Julie wants to make sure that her post doesn't get pre-empted by this one, so please look at it also. Much obliged.

Mommmmm!

 Much to Anna's embarrassment I had to take this picture. Yes, Aaron is curling Anna's hair. Yes, he did a better job than I do. And, yes, it was his idea to curl her hair in the first place. Don't be jealous Ladies but Aaron also cooks, cleans, and scrapbooks. In Aaron's defence the scrapbooking is digital so that makes it more manly, but James still makes fun of him! Thanks Grandma Christine for training my husband so well!

Interesting quote from Robert Herz, FASB Committee Chairman.

But just don’t look for others to fix problems that may be under your control. Keep the Golden Rule of “doing unto others as they would do to you” in mind. If you are a lender, don’t make loans that people may not be able to pay off just because you can sell or securitize them. And if you are in corporate reporting, don’t succumb to the temptation to try to structure around the standards or fail to properly communicate risks to your investors and the markets, just because there is no specific FASB or SEC requirement.

Doesn’t it seem like a lot of the crap in the world could be eliminated if we followed the true Golden Rule?

Thanks, Gromo.

 

We’re glad that Gromo could come and stay with us for a few days post-partum. She was really helpful, and we all had a lovely time.

Why Aaron and I are such good friends

See Aaron’s posts here and here.

Darn skippy.

PS Julie says Aaron needs to fix his blog so that she can comment.

Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired

The past three days I’ve had a cold. While not a real “kick my butt” kind of cold, it certainly isn’t very fun. I’d planned to take it kind of easy and leave work early so I could recuperate a bit. Ha, ha, ha. No go. I haven’t been home before 8:00 this week.

On the happy side of things, we’re planning a trip to SLC this weekend for the celebration of our 10th (10th!!) anniversary. We look forward to going to the temple, and seeing a play, and doing CPE. Well, at least two of the three.

Things that make you go hmm...

 

Is it wise to mix alcohol, high powered rifles, and bright orange? Methinks not so much.

Recent Photos, Part III

   

Recent Photos, Part II

       

Recent Photos

       

Yep. Still alive and kicking.

I’ve been pretty quiet for about the past month, but don’t fret, we’re still here.

I’ve gone fishing, worked a lot, played with the kids, and Julie is one month closer to having a baby. I’m at work right now, just waiting for a report to calculate. I can’t work on any other reports until it finishes, so I just thought I’d say hello.

Maybe a couple of photos? I’ll see what I can do.

Easy Family History Opportunity

So, I’ve been looking through my pictures, and there seems to be a lack of photos of Anna from her early years (ages 0-4). I know some of you who are related to us might have some pictures that you’ve taken. If you do, could you send some my way? If they’re digital, you can email them to me. Drop a comment if you need my email address. If you have a lot of digital stuff (more than 20 megs), I have a couple of methods we can use to trade pictures, so drop a line and I’ll help you out.

Thanks in advance for your help.

The Girl Who Nearly Made Aaron Bleed. Nearly, but Not Quite.

 

This is Rebecca Taylor. She looks innocent enough, but as I alluded in my last post, she’s the one who managed to kick a soccer ball straight into my face. She kicks hard. I thought my nose would have been broken, but fortunately it didn’t. My lip swelled up a bit, but other than that, I’m all right. She felt bad and apologized profusely. I'm looking forward to ribbing her about this all year during Seminary.

Soccer tonight

Played soccer... me, seven teenagers, two kids... scored one goal... assisted on a couple of others... hit hard in the face by ball while playing keeper... much running... exhausted...

Loved every minute... going to play again next week... Oh, yeah... Big grin.

It's Football Time!

I just thought everyone would enjoy a few photos of the kids playing football.

Aaron Searle is Getting Released from the Bishopric

I was called today to be on the High Council, and since Aaron and I seem to have a knack for picking up similar callings around the same time, I’m going to predict he’ll be a Dry High Councilor sometime in the next few months.

It’s exciting and new. I was baptized by fire today with a disciplinary council. I have no authority to discuss the proceedings thereof, but I learned that they aren’t the scary things I always imagined they are, except for the Stake Presidency and High Councilors. The lot fell on me to speak, and that scared the heck out of me. That’s the news today. I’m pretty tired.

Things that made me laugh today

I had a couple of really good belly laughs today, and wouldn’t you know, my dear, sweet sister was behind both of them?

Today at work I got an email from Emily. It was [allegedly] a compilation of metaphors and similes used in high school papers. “The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.” and “It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.” were a couple that made me wonder about life growing up in those home. The full list is available for those who wish to read it.

The second thing was her post about Mountain Lions. I just hope Drew’s OK.

Proper term for a person from Wyoming

It’s Wyomingite. Just in case you were wondering.

Excellent Trout Recipe

If you’re fishing in Wyoming, chances are pretty good that you’re going to catch trout of some sort or another. We were fishing yesterday, and caught a couple of nice rainbow trout. Well, I wanted to cook them today, but I’m the only one who really likes to eat them, so I decided to try a different recipe, and we found a winner. James liked it. Anna wouldn’t even try it on principle. (“Ewww. Fish.”) Julie was asleep so she didn’t get a chance to taste it because James and I ate it all up. Sorry, Jules. Anyway... I’ve tucked this away in my EverNote database of recipes that I will definitely use again.

Best. Trout. Ever.

Now, being a Sunday and not having a chance to go to the grocery store to get the exact ingredients, we did improvise by using dried ground ginger, garlic powder, and chopped onions instead of fresh ginger, minced garlic, and green onions, but overall it got a big “Woot!” from those who tried it. I served it with a side of greens and balsamic vinagrette, and it all worked well. I’m going fishing again this week, and I’ll probably try a different adaptation of the recipe where I bake it whole so I don’t have to try to filet the 1-pound fish we usually bring home.

Full disclosure: I still haven’t tried Drew’s recipe for trout with buttery crackers, which I hear is pretty dang good. Emily, who may be the pickiest eater I know, even eats the trout when Drew cooks it that way.

I Can’t Believe This is the First Post in July

Wow.

I feel bad.

Well, here’s what happened this month:

• Julie’s Birthday/Friends Visit
• Emily Visit
• Various Fishing Trips
• Quarterly Close

Julie’s Birthday/Friends Visit

On the anniversary of the Independence of our fair country, Julie also celebrates the anniversary of her birthday. Since the Fourth fell on a Friday, we got a three-day-weekend, and so did pretty much everyone else. Two of the families with whom we are friends trekked up to the Darn Stinkin’ Great State of Wyoming (with apologies to the merely “Great” State of Texas) to hang out for the weekend. We went to the Big Piney parade; the 12 minutes set a new duration record. Then we went to the county fairgrounds for the annual barbecue. Lamentably, they had nothing on Kansas City barbecue, other than it was free. After that, the kids needed naps, so we went back to the house and laid down for a rest. Then in the evening, we drove over to the church house, where we watched the fireworks show, which was absolutely spectacular. It looked like no expense was spared.

The rest of the weekend was spent fishing, picnicking, churching, and playing games. It was a lovely weekend, and we’re glad our friends could come up.

Emily Visit

The week after that, Emily and Drew drove up on Friday evening to spend the weekend. We had a good time hanging out with them. On Saturday morning, Drew, James and I woke up early and went fishing at Middle Piney, where we had a banner fishing trip. We kept three fish from our trip, and Drew prepared them for us on Sunday afternoon. They were delicious.

After fishing on Saturday, we took our naps to make up for waking up so dang early on Saturday, and drove to the lovely town of Pinedale to enjoy Chinese food, a trip to the park, and as it turned out, the Rendezvous Rodeo. The Rodeo was kind of a last minute decision, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Next year, though, we’ll go a little earlier in the evening to get a spot that’s higher than the fence. All during the rodeo we were moving our heads and backs up and down to see through the slits in the fence. Everyone enjoyed the bucking broncos and the bulls. After that, there were fireworks again. Expenses were definitely spared for this show.

Various Fishing Trips

One of the advantages of living in the high mountain nowhere, is that there are several excellent fisheries all over the county. As explained, we went fishing when our friends were here, and when Drew and Emily came to visit. This week I went fishing one day during my lunch break because there’s a Green River access spot about three miles from work. Then when Julie went to hang out with her parents on Wednesday evening, I went fishing at Middle Piney, and then this morning, I took the kids fishing up at Middle Piney again. For a guy like me, who enjoys fishing, this is awesome.

Quarterly Close

June is the end of a fiscal quarter for my employer, and so we’ve been cranking through financials for the past three weeks. What a blast. Or not.

So, that’s the quick summary of life up here. Hope things are going well for all of you living in the big city and especially for those of you who are stationed in a remote army base. Be good and stay safe.